Line casting machine



May 15, 1934. R. H; TURNER LINE CASTING MACHINE Filed June 9, 1955 ATTORN EY Patented May 15,1934

UNETE STATES LINE CASTING MACHINE Ransom H. Turner, Auburndale, N. Y., assignor to Intertype Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 9, 1933, Serial No. 675,133 In Germany July 1, 1932 11 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in line casting machines of the well known class wherein assembled lines of character bearing matrices are lowered by a line transporter, usually a vertically movable elevator, be-

tween the right and left hand jaws of a vise which holds the matrix lines in front of a mold for casting type bars or slugs each having a line of characters along an edge thereof, and it relates more particularly to machines of this class wherein means is provided for automatically moving the right hand vise jaw against a short line of matrices while closing at the front the remainder of the length of the mold 15 by the rear face of said vise jaw, examples of a machine embodying means for thus moving the right hand vise jaw being disclosed in the pending applications of Samuel E. Sperry, Serial No. 562,390, filed September 11, 1931, and Serial No. 612,349, filed May 19, 1932.

In using machines of this class it is customary in practice to cast in a correspondingly short mold those slugs for printing lines of characters which are placed Where the width of the column, as for example, at the side of cuts or illustrations, is less than the column width, but the changes of the casting molds required to accomplish this consumes much valuable time. Slugs for printing such short lines have therefore occasionally been cast to a length equal to the full width of the column so that the characters are at the right hand end of the slug and the blank left end of the slug sawed off but such procedure also consumes valuable time.

Machines of the class referred to have been provided with means for moving the right hand vise jaw automatically against short matrix lines, known as quadding, to effect closing of the front of the mold by the rear face of such jaw where no type characters are to appear on the slug, so that slugs bearing short lines of type characters may be cast in molds of column width, the type characters thereon 4 being omitted only on portions of the length of such slugs, but since the leftward or closing movement of the right hand vise jaw is stopped only by the short matrix lines and the jaw is held during justification by a pawl or the like in substantially whatever position it may have reached in closing against any particular length matrix line, the lines of type characters will be of various lengths on the slugs so produced.

According to the present invention, the machine having such means for automatically quadding or moving the right hand vise jaw thereof against short matrix lines, is provided with means whereby short lines of matrices, during justification, are limited to the desired I length, such limiting means comprising a stop 69 for the right hand jaw which is adjustable or capable of being set manually in one or another predetermined position which is constant or fixed with respect to the normal line receiving position of the right hand jaw. By means of such a stop, the short lengths of type lines on the relatively longer cast slugs are confined to an exact length and will end evenly at their right hand ends; that is, such stop, when used in connection with machines arranged for quad- 70 ding out matrix lines, provides means for fixing the right hand ends of successive lines in one or another predetermined vertical column alinement other than the constant right-hand column alinement representing full column width which is the limitation of machines of this class as heretofore constructed.

In the accompanying drawing which shows one embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a line casting machine, showing the first elevator in raised position and the jaws of the vise set normally for matrix lines of column width, and showing the adjustable stop provided by the present invention, said stop being in inoperative position;

Fig. 2 is a top plan of the structure shown in Fig. 1, portions of the vise carrying the adjustable stop and of the first elevator, being in section; 9

Fig. 3 is a front elevation, partly in section, of a portion of the structure shown in Fig. 1, but showing the first elevator in lowered position and the right-hand vise jaw held against a short justified line of matrices the length of which was predetermined by the previous setting of the adjustable stop; and

Fig. 4 shows a column of printed matter according to which the lines of type are shortened ona side of an area containing an illustration or the like.

In carrying out the invention, the right-hand vise jaw 1, it is to be understood, is movably mounted and may be provided with any suitable 5 means, preferably automatic, for closing it against short matrix lines, that is, lines which are composed to a length shorter than the column measure for which the vise jaws are set apart to receive. In the present instance, the 110 A right-hand vise jaw 1 is connected by a rod 2 and link 20 to a spring actuated lever 3 which may be operated at appropriate times by suitable means such, for example, as that shown in said prior application, Serial No. 612,349, to move the jaw 1 inwardly or toward the left-hand vise jaw 4 after a matrix line shorter than the width of the column has been lowered by the usual first elevator 5 into a position between the vise jaws 1 and 4. The left hand vise jaw 4 may be adjusted for different line measures and held in set positionby a setting device 24 like that disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,108,758 granted August 25, 1914. Normally, the vise jaw 1 is held in open or line receiving position by a latch 6 pivoted on the vise frame, as by a bracket 6 fixed thereon, and having one end arranged to engage by gravity in a recess 7 in the vise jaw 1, and said bracket may carry a set screw 6 against which the jaw 1 may bank as a stop when justifying full lines. Descent of the first elevator causes the right hand end of the matrix line carrying head 8 thereon to engage the latch 6 and lift it out of the recess '7 so that the vise jaw 1 will be released and may be moved inwardly against the matrix line by the lever 3. After a slug has been cast from the matrix line, the first elevator rises as usual to lift the matrix line from between the vise jaws and the lever B is operated to return the vise jaw 1 to its normal open or matrix line receiving position.

When a matrix line is lowered by the first elevator 5 into position between the vise jaws and the latch 6 is operated by the head 8 of the first elevator to release the jaw 1, thus allowing the lever 3 to pull the jaw 1 toward the jaw 4, the body of the jaw 1 fills out the incomplete or short matrix line and also closes at the front the right hand end of the mold which is immediately behind it. Thus a short matrix line, presented between the vise jaws, will be moved to the left and confined between the jaws as shown in Fig. 3, the characters being cast at the left hand end of the slug.

According to the present invention, a pawllike stop 9 is provided which, at its left-hand end, is arranged to engage the shoulder 10 of a recess in the guide block 21 fixed to the right-' hand jaw 1, the right hand end of the stop being loosely pivoted to a toothed bar'or rack 11 so as to swing vertically, the bar 11 being movable to and fro longitudinally in a bracket 18 fixed to the vise frame 19 by a toothed gear 12 which meshes therewith and is rotatable manually by a knob 13.

, left hand end into position to engage the outer of the expansible spacebands S therein by the usual justifying bar 22, bears at its right-hand end against the vise jaw 1 while the latter is held against outward movement by the engagement of the appropriately set stop 9 with the shoulder 10. In order to prevent the stop 9 from receding or moving outwardly under the pressure of the line of matrices, a locking dog 16 is provided which is slidable toward and from the toothed bar 11 and is toothed at its rear end to engage teeth provided on the front of the toothed bar 11. The forward end of the dog 16 has a portion thereon which'engages in a peripheral groove in the knob 13, the latter being shiftable in the direction of its axis and being normally held by a spring 17 in its rear position in which the dog 16 holds the toothed bar 11 firmly against movement. In order to set the toothed bar 11 and the stop 9 for the desired length of the line of matrices, the knob 13 is first pulled forwardly and then rotated in one or, the other direction. As soon as the stop 9 has been thus brought to the selected position, which will be indicated by a suitable scale which may be provided for example on the upper side of the toothed bar 11 as shown, the knob 13 is allowed to return to its rear position under the action of the spring 17, whereby the toothed bar 11 and hence the stop 9 will be locked in set position by the dog 16 which then re-engages the toothed bar 11. As soon as the first elevator ascends, after the casting of a slug from the matrix line, the spring-pressed plunger 15 lifts out of engagement with the stop 9, so that the latter, under the action of the spring 14, rises above the level of the shoulder 10 on the right-hand vise jaw or into the horizontal position shown in Fig. 1, and the right hand vise jaw is then free to be moved back toward the right into its initial or fully open line receiving position, as shown in Fig. l, by the lever 3, where it will be held by the latch 6 until released by the next descent of the first elevator.

It will be understood of course that the vise laws are normally set to receive full lines, but the short lintes are set short of full measure bya predetermined amount in accordance with the'setting of the stop 9, so that the closing movement of the right hand vise jaw will be of at least such predetermined amount so that the shoulder 10 will be sufficiently far ahead of the inner end of the stop 9 to enable the latter to engage behind it when depressed by the descent of the first elevator.

'As will be seen from Fig. 4, by the use of the right-hand stop provided by the present invention, the printed lines terminate, at both the left hand and right hand sides of the column,

evenly or in vertical alinement, the short lines A opposite to the insert or cut B being all of the same length. By casting all lines on slugs of full length and justifying the short lines to suit the insert, as provided for by the present invention, the labor and delay incident to the previous practice of casting the short lines on suitably short slugs or of casting the short lines on the right-hand ends of slugs of full column width and subsequently sawing off the surplus left-hand ends of the slugs and fitting the short slugs around the cut or insert, is avoided, and, moreover, the cut or insert may be laid on the blank surface of the short line slugs beyond the type characters thereon and which blank surface may be made of the proper height, if,

necessary, in any suitable manner.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the present invention provides the right-hand vise jaw with a variable stop capable of being set at any predetermined point, and that the stop is rendered operative automatically after the line is delivered to and confined between the vise jaws. The stop will of course also serve to restrict "the right-hand jaw when the latter stands at its full open or normal position, as will be clear from the relation of the shoulder 16 on said jaw and the notched inner end of the stop 9 as shown in Fig. 1, when the stop is set accordingly.

The present invention enables short lines or lines of less than column width, which are to appear at the side of an inserted. cut or the like, to be cast on slugs of the same length as full lines by setting the right-hand jaw stop at a point corresponding to the width or space to be occupied by the cut, the right hand jaw stop being made adjustable for this purpose. By this means. lines of character bearing matrices set short of full measure by an amount at least equal to the space to be allowed for an insert cut will be justified and alined vertically at the right-hand end or along the margin surrounding the cut and the remainder of the slugs will be blank since they will be cast against the inner face of the right-hand jaw, which of course will close against the short set matrix lines. In other words, the invention provides for varying the right-hand indention of lines so as to establish any desired constant alinement of successive lines at the right-hand ends of the slugs on which they are cast.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a line casting machine having means for automatically moving the right-hand vise jaw to close it against a short matrix line and cover the front of the remaining length of the mold by the face of such vise jaw, a stop adjustable manually, independently of said jaw, to one or another predetermined position constant with respect to the normal line receiving position of said jaw and corresponding to the desired length of the matrix line, prior to the operation of the jaw moving means, and operable to positively limit the right-hand vise jaw during justification of the line.

2. A line casting machine according to claim 1 wherein said stop adjustable manually to the length of the matrix line has a spring for holding it in non-operative position until it is pressed down into locking position by the lowering of the first elevator.

3. In a line casting machine having righthand and left-hand vise jaws adapted to be set normally to receive matrix lines of full measure, the right-hand jaw having means for moving it toward the other jaw to close against matrix lines short of full measure, a stop capable of being set manually independently of said right hand jaw, in one or another predetermined position constant with respect to the normal line receiving position of the right hand jaw prior to the operation of the jaw moving means to correspondingly limit the outward movement of the right-hand vise jaw during justification of such short matrix lines to a line measure prel determined by the setting of said stop.

4. In a line casting machine having righthand and left-hand vise jaws adapted to be set normally to receive full matrix lines between them, the right-hand jaw having means for moving it toward the other jaw to close against -short matrix lines, a stop capable of being set manually, independently of the right-hand jaw while the latter is in line receiving position, in one or another position constant with respect to the normal full line receiving position of the right-hand jaw to correspondingly limit the outward movement of the right-hand jaw during justification of such short matrix lines and thereby predetermine the length thereof.

' 5. In a line casting machine having righthand and left-hand vise jaws to receive matrix I lines between them, the right-hand jaw having 7 means for moving it toward the other jaw to close against short matrix lines and to close the remainder of the length of the mold, means for retainingthe right-hand vise jaw in re tracted matrix line receiving position, a matrix line transporting member for introducing a matrix line between the vise jaws and for releasin the right-hand jaw for closing movement against a matrix line between the jaws, and a stop for the right-hand jaw capable of being set manually, independently of said'jaw while the latter is in line receiving position, in one or another position to correspondingly limit the outward movement of said jaw after closing against a short matrix line and thereby predetermine the length of such matrix line.

6. In a line casting machine having a pair of matrix line receiving vise jaws, at least one of which is movable from a full line receiving position toward the other jaw to close against a matrix line, a stop capable of being set manually in one or another position in the direction of movement of said movable jaw and engageable with said jaw to hold it in a corresponding position against outward movement after being moved toward the other jaw, means for normally holding said stop in non-engaging relation with said movable jaw, and means for introduce ing a matrix line between the jaws and automatically moving said stop into engaging relation with the movable jaw.

7. In a line casting machine having a pair of matrix line receiving vise jaws, at least one of which is movable from a full line receiving position toward the other jaw to close against a matrix line, a member adjustable manually in the direction of movement of said movable jaw for different line measures and having means for looking it in different set positions, a stop connected to said member to be set thereby and engageable with the movable jaw to confine it against outward movement after closing against a matrix line, according to the setting of said member, means for normally holding said stop in non-engaging relation with said movable jaw, and means for introducing a matrix line between the jaws and rendering said stop engageable with said movable jaw.

8. In a line casting machine having right hand and left hand vise jaws which occupy normal line receiving positions in accordance with a selected line measure, one of said jaws having means for moving it from its line receiving position toward the other jaw to quad out the unfilled portion of lines shorter than said line measure, means comprising a stop member independent of said movable jaw and capable of being set, while the jaws are in line receiving positions, in one or another predetermined position constant with respect to the normal line receiving position of the movable jaw for retaining the movable jaw at one or another constant predetermined position between the normal line receiving positions of said jaws after the movable jaw has closed against such short measure lines.

9. In a line casting machine having means for automatically moving the right-hand vise jaw inwardly from its normal full line receiving position to close it againstashort matrix line, a stop adjustable to.one or another predetermined position constant with respect to the normal line receiving position of said jaw and corresponding to the desired length of such short matrix line, said stop being arranged to automatically move into engagementwith the righthand jaw after operation of the jaw movement means to determine the position of said jaw when the line is justified.

10. In a line casting machine having means for automatically moving the right-hand vise jaw inwardly from its normal full line receiving position to close it against a short matrix line, a stop adjustable to one or another predetermined position constant with respect to the normal line receiving position of said jaw and corresponding to the desired length of such short matrix line and operative independently of the jaw moving means to retain the right hand jaw at the position determined by the location of said stop during justification of the line.

11. In a line casting machine having means for automatically moving the right-hand. vise jaw inwardly from its normal full line position to close itagainst a short matrix line, a stop adjustable to one or another predetermined position constant with respect to the normal line receiving position of said jaw and corresponding to the desired length of such short matrix line, and means active on said stop to automatically engage it with said jaw after the latter has closed beyond the position of said stop to limit outward movement of the jaw during justification of the line.

RANSOM H. TURNER. 

